Spraying apparatus



Nov. 26, 1957 c; PORTILLO 2,814,530

SPRAYING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 2, 1955 v INVENTOR.

- '5' CARLOS PORT/LAO ZARATE ATTORNEY.

United States Patent SPRAYING APPARATUS Carlos Portillo, Mexico City, Mexico Application September 2, 1955, Serial No. 532,319 4 Claims. (Cl. 299-1401) This invention relates to the art of spraying liquid substance and it has to do particularly with the spraying of such substances as paint, lacquer, varnish, or shellac, or other material to be applied to the surface of any object.

For the purpose of disclosing the invention, reference will be made largely to the spraying of coating materials, such as those above mentioned, and for convenience, such materials will be referred to as paint, lacquer, or the like. However, the invention is applicable to the spraying of other substances which are to be applied to the surface for purposes other than the application of a coating of paint or lacquer or the like.

The advantage of spraying paint or lacquer or the like onto the surfaces of objects are, of course, well known to those versed in the art. Various lacquers or paints are applied to such items as automotive vehicles practically exclusively by the spraying method. The spraying method may also be used in the painting of houses or the preparation of furniture. There is, however, a serious problem which has heretofore confronted the users of spraying apparatus. This problem is the fact that much of the substance sprayed is not applied to the surface of the intended object, but floats away, so to speak, in the atmosphere in the form of finely divided particles, and for the most part, ultimately becomes deposited on surrounding objects or surfaces.

When a paint or lacquer is sprayed, the same is applied by means of an air jet or air stream, and surrounding the entire locale, a situation develops which may be described as fog. This fog comprises finely divided particles of the paint or lacquer suspended in the atmosphere in an uncontrolled manner. Where spraying is done commercially, large and expensive spray booths are provided to more or less confine this fog or vapor and considerable attention must be given to a proper ventilation in order to carry away this fog, or vapor or fumes. There is also a danger of fire or explosion Where the paint or lacquer or the like is combustible. Moreover, the substance in the fog or vapor deposits all over the walls of the booths and on any other surface in the vicinity. This requires the surfaces to be cleaned and scraped from time to time with the particular view, among others, of lessening the fire hazard.

The spraying of paint on the walls of a building, be it a residence or commercial building, has, it is believed, been deterred by reason of this condition. It has been found by experience that if the interior walls of one portion of a building are painted by the spraying method, that some of the vapor containing the finely divided paint circulates through the building, and then the substance deposits all over the place. This, of course, is extremely undesirable, not only from the standpoint of other walls in the building, but from the standpoint of getting the substance on the furniture, rugs, drapes, clothing and the like. A similar situation exists where an object, such as a building or a house is sprayed on its exterior in the open atmosphere. The breeze or wind carries away much of the paint and this situation can be particularly aggravated if there is a substantial wind.

The present invention has to do with a spraying device and with a method for spraying liquid substances which will overcome largely, if not entirely, the above mentioned defect and problem. In accordance with the invention, these substances, whether it be paint or lacquer or other material, is sprayed by means of an air stream or jet substantially in the usual fashion, and the spraying stream or jet which contains the sprayed substance is confined within a zone of narrow limits and, thus the fog or fumes containing the finely divided substance is prevented from circulating or moving away from the zone of spraying. To this end, the spraying stream is surrounded, in effect, by a wall or screen through which the fog cannot penetrate. This confining wall is accomplished by the projection of an encasing or hollow stream or jet of air at a sufiiciently high velocity as to prevent the paint particles in the fog or in the fumes from penetrating or passing through the same. Where the hollow stream or jet of air is projected from the instrument which sprays the paint or lacquer, the hollow stream may be of gradually enlarging size and may be visualized as a cone of high velocity air which surrounds the spraying stream. Moreover, the invention makes for a saving and economy in the sprayed substance as the paint or lacquer, which otherwise would escape, is maintained under' control and applied to the surface of the object.

Yet another object of my invention is to provide, by

the spray apparatus of my invention, means having a two fold purpose, that is the provision of means for protect ing the health of the operator and for effecting a total utilization of the substance being sprayed.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device notable for its simplicity, the ease with which it may be serviced, and its cheapness of manufacture.

The nature and characteristic features of the invention will be more readily understood from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the invention applied to a spray gun; and H Figure 2 is a View taken on the line 2-2 of Figure l, disclosing the invention in section and the spray gun in side elevation. I 7

It should, of course, be understood that the description and drawings herein are illustrative merely, and that various modifications and changes may be made in the structure disclosed Without departing from the spirit ofthe invention.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings disclosing a preferred embodiment of my invention the apparatus in accordance with the present invention preferably includes a spray gun 10 of conventional character having a nozzle 12, a paint container 14, a manually operable trigger l6, and a compressed air supply hose 18 connected, by a 1* 20, to a hose 22 connected with a suitable air compressor, not shown.

The invention resides in the provision of an anti- :dispersion attachment fitted over the nozzle 12 said attachment preferably comprising a hollow one piece cylinder like spray shield unit indicated as a whole by the reference numeral 24. This unit includes a tubular body member 26 which is relatively tightly sleeved over the nozzle 12 to provide a friction fit; or the unit may be threadedly mounted on the nozzle. The outer end of the unit is flared outwardly and inwardly to provide a cone shaped end member 28. This end member, as is disclosed in Figure 2, is inclined toward a plane passing through the center of the unit and extending normal to the axis thereof. The inner end of the body member 26 is flared outwardly and inwardly, Figure 2, to provide a cone shaped end member 30; and the peripheries of the two 3 1 end members are joined by a tubular member 32 which is concentric with the tubular body member 26.

The end member 30 is provided with an opening 34 to, which is secured a nipple 36 said nipple being detachably connected at its end to one end of a conduit 38 said conduit being connected .at its other end to the T 20. The outer end member or plate 28 is provided with a plurality of relatively small openings 40, say diameter. These openings, lying in a circle spaced from the periphery of the member 28, are preferably equally or substantially equally spaced from each other.

The outer and relatively short tubular member 32 is preferably provided with a. plurality of equally spaced openings around which are soldered or welded cylindrically shaped. L-shaped members 42; and to the outer end of each of said L-shaped members there is detachably secured a tubular shaped tip member 44 bored to provide a duct 46 registering with the interior or duct 48 of the member 42, said duct 46 registering, at its outer end, with a laterally extending prism shaped slot 50 of relatively narrow width; The slots 50 preferably lie in or substantially in a circle concentric with the periphery of the member 32.

There is thus provided, by the bored L-shaped members 42 and their bored tips 44, means for conducting compressed air from the compressor to an area spaced from a frustro conical shaped end portion 52 of the nozzle 12; and the multiplicity of columns of air under pressure together provide a tubular shaped barrier or shield to prevent the atomized paint, shellac or other spray medium from mixing with the surrounding air. The flow of air to the, shall we say, spray shield 24 may be controlled by any suitable means, not shown, such as a valve which is opened when the trigger 16 is actuated to energize the spray gun 10. It is to be particularly noted that the concurrently operable tubular shaped shield or barrier of air provided by the openings 40 supplements the cone or shield emitted from the openings 50.

There is thus provided, in the spray shield 24, an easily serviced, cheaply manufactured, spray attachment of relatively few. parts which attachment provides a cloak of air to not only protect the operator from the deleterious eflects of the spray projected from the noule 12 but also conserves the spray material; for more of the material is then deposited on the work being covered. It is also to be noted that the laterally extending slots 50 in the tips 44 cooperate with the ducts 46 to provide the desired shape of the outer barrier or protective cloak of air.

I claim:

1. A device for spraying a substance such as paint or the like onto the surface of an object which comprises a sprayer unit including a nozzle, a hollow tubular shaped air shield unit mounted on said nozzle, said shield unit including an air receiving tubular member in contact with the outer surface of the nozzle, two inclined end wall members secured to and flaring outwardly from the tubular member, and a tubular shaped outer member secured to the outer periphery of the end wall members,

together with a plurality of angular shaped tubular members mounted on the outer member said tubular members providing means for creating a generally tubular shaped protective cloak of air encompassing the atomized spray material emitted from the nozzle.

2. A device for spraying a substance such as paint or the like onto the surface of an object which comprises a sprayer unit including a nozzle, a hollow tubular shaped air shield unit mounted on said nozzle, said shield unit including an air receiving tubular member in contact with the outer surface of the nozzle, two inclined end wall members secured to and flaring outwardly from the tubular member, and a tubular shaped outer member concentric or substantially concentric with and secured to the outer peripheries of the end wall members, together with a plurality of L-shaped tubular members mounted on the outer member said L-shaped tubular members providing means for creating a generally tubular shaped protective cloak of air encompassing the atomized spray material emitted from the nozzle.

3. In a sprayer apparatus for fluent coating materials, a sprayer unit including a nozzle having a tubular shaped body portion, and a frusto conical shaped end portion, an air spray shield unit mounted on the body portion of the sprayer unit said spray shield unit including a hollow tubular shaped body portion having openings therein providing means for effecting an air shield surrounding the nozzle, a circle of annularly spaced angular shaped tubular members secured to the outer wall of said body portion, and fluid transmitting means having a portion thereof connected to one of the walls of the body portion of the shield unit and a portion connected to the sprayer unit.

4. In a sprayer apparatus for fluent coating materials, a sprayer unit including a nozzle having a tubular shaped body portion, a spray shield unit mounted on the body portion of the sprayer unit said spray shield unit including a hollow annular shaped body portion, a circle of annularly spaced angular shaped tubular members secured to the outer wall of said body portion which portion includes an end wall member having a plurality of annularly spaced openings lying in a circle concentric or substantially concentric with the circle of angular shaped members, and fiuid transmitting means having a portion thereof connected to one of the walls of the body portion of the shield unit'and a portion connected to the sprayer unit.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

